An Investigation of the Electrical Performance of Polymer-Based Stretchable TFTs Under Mechanical Strain Using the...

Stretchable semiconductors capable of maintaining electrical performance under large mechanical deformation are essential for reliable wearable electronic devices. However, polymer semiconductors often suffer from electrical degradation when subjected to tensile strain. In this study, electrical stability under strain was achieved by using a rubber-blended poly(2,5-bis(2-octyldodecyl)-3,6-di(thiophen-2-yl)diketopyrrolo[3,4-c]pyrrole-1,4-dione-alt-thieno[3,2-b]thiophene) (DPPT-TT) polymer semiconductor based on a conjugated polymer/elastomer phase separation-induced elasticity (CONPHINE) structure. Unlike most previous studies on fully stretchable thin-film transistors (TFTs), which primarily report overall performance changes under mechanical strain, this work systematically identifies the dominant origin of electrical performance degradation through a stepwise electrical analysis encompassing the gate insulating layer, the semiconductor layer, and complete devices. Bottom-gate top-contact (BGTC) and bottom-gate bottom-contact (BGBC) devices were fabricated on rigid Si/SiO₂ substrates to examine the intrinsic properties of the DPPT-TT/styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene (SEBS) CONPHINE film. As a result, the device exhibits 90% mobility retention even at 100% tensile strain applied parallel to the charge transport direction. Quantitative resistance analysis using the Y-function method reveals that variations in channel resistance play a dominant role in strain-induced performance degradation, whereas changes in contact resistance contribute only marginally. These findings demonstrate that stabilizing channel resistance, rather than contact resistance, is important for achieving high mobility retention under large mechanical deformation, thereby providing concrete and quantitative design guidelines for reliable stretchable TFTs.